The present invention relates to an electrical plug connection according to the species of claim 1.
It is known from German Patent No. 41 15 119 describes an electrical plug connection that is composed of a first connector and a second connector assigned to the first. Receiving chambers are arranged in the first plug connection. A contact element connected at its extremity to an electrical line is inserted into each receiving chamber.
When the two connectors are joined, mating contact elements of the second connector penetrate into these facing contact segments, each of which constituting the free end of the contact elements. In order to prevent the contact elements from being pushed back axially by the forces arising in the process, the contact elements are secured in their locked position against any axial displacement by a locking element that is movably mounted on the first connector.
In a disadvantageous manner, the locking element, with respect to a plug-in side of the first connector facing the second connector, is set back axially to the extent that it locks each of the contact elements in an assigned, axially set-back transition segment. Since the guide of the locking element, as a result of its mobility on the first connector, represents an opening on the first connector that exists within the scope of the clearance of motion, a sealing means, which in the coupled state of the plug connection seals off the first connector with respect to the second connector, must be arranged axially downstream in the insertion direction of the second connector in the direction of the first connector, so that when the plug connection is coupled the locking element is situated in the sealed area. However, in an undesirable manner, this arrangement leads to a bulky, large-volume plug connection.
A plug connection according to the present invention has the advantage that the above-mentioned insufficiency is avoided and a plug connection is realized that has a small unit volume.
When contact elements are used that have at least one locking body in radial separation with respect to the contact segments constituting the free ends of the contact element, the locking element, which in the locking position axially covers these locking bodies in a form-locking manner, can be arranged in spatial proximity to the free ends of the contact elements and thus to the plug-in side of the first connector.
Correspondingly, a sealing element arranged axially downstream of the locking element in the insertion direction of the second connector in the direction of the first connector can be arranged axially upstream of the plug-in side of the first connector, so that, given this arrangement, the overlap of the second connector over the first connector is realized via a short axial coupling path. This makes possible a plug connection of small construction, which can be used even in cramped installation circumstances.
In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, the locking element has coding parts which make it possible to lock the plug connection only in response to a second connector that is coded in complementary fashion. The coding parts on the small-dimension locking element can vary without great production expense, so that the housing of the first connector can be manufactured, without its own coding parts, for all coupling variants having the second connector in an unchanged shape. As a result, the plug connection can be manufactured in large-series production in a particularly economically advantageous manner.